Indiana
About three months ago, my mom and dad went to visit my mom's sister. She and her husband were having a fight, and my mom wanted to make sure my aunt was okay. She has clinical depression amoungst other things, so she's kind of unstable, and my mom worries about her. While they were there, a fleet of state troopers show up to arrest her husband and the neighbor for manufacturing methamphetamines.
My parents knew nothing of this, and neither did my aunt (or so she claims). They held my parents and my aunt and uncle in custody while they searched the property. Long story short, my uncle was taken to jail, his neighbor was arrested too, and my mom and dad got charged with visiting a common nuisance. But my aunt who lived with him, DID NOT get charged with anything!
Since then, the neighbor got out on a technicallity, my uncle took a plea bargain, and my parents have been in and out of court several times over this. My dad got assigned a ****ty (these are his words) public defender whom has failed to show for court on at least one occassion, and failed to tell my father when his trial date was set for after a continuance was granted. My dad recieved nothing in the mail, his attorney did not contact him, and my dad even went to visit his office twice since the date was set, and he didn't tell my dad either time! Not only that, the judge's assistant didn't tell my dad when he went in to see her. He asked her, and she told him that it had yet to be scheduled without looking in his file or contacting the judge to make sure.
So, my dad waited to hear from his attorney. I think it was September 27th when he recieved a letter from the courthouse informing him that he had missed his court date, scheduled back on September 5th (I believe) and that there has been a bench warrant in effect since that date. My dad was involved in a minor fender bender on the 17th of September and the police said nothing about a bench warrant then????
A couple questions:
One, why wasn't my aunt charged with visiting a common nuisance or something similar? She lived with him, she should have been guilty of something, right?
Second, can a bench warrant be lifted because of an error on the public defender's part?
Third, what can my dad do to rectify this horrible situation?
Fourth, if my uncle and his neighbor are both out of jail now, why is it that my parents are still being charged with this? The neighbor was acquited, and my uncle took a plea bargain. Does that somehow inadvertantly convict my parents?
Please help. I don't want my parents to go to jail.
About three months ago, my mom and dad went to visit my mom's sister. She and her husband were having a fight, and my mom wanted to make sure my aunt was okay. She has clinical depression amoungst other things, so she's kind of unstable, and my mom worries about her. While they were there, a fleet of state troopers show up to arrest her husband and the neighbor for manufacturing methamphetamines.
My parents knew nothing of this, and neither did my aunt (or so she claims). They held my parents and my aunt and uncle in custody while they searched the property. Long story short, my uncle was taken to jail, his neighbor was arrested too, and my mom and dad got charged with visiting a common nuisance. But my aunt who lived with him, DID NOT get charged with anything!
Since then, the neighbor got out on a technicallity, my uncle took a plea bargain, and my parents have been in and out of court several times over this. My dad got assigned a ****ty (these are his words) public defender whom has failed to show for court on at least one occassion, and failed to tell my father when his trial date was set for after a continuance was granted. My dad recieved nothing in the mail, his attorney did not contact him, and my dad even went to visit his office twice since the date was set, and he didn't tell my dad either time! Not only that, the judge's assistant didn't tell my dad when he went in to see her. He asked her, and she told him that it had yet to be scheduled without looking in his file or contacting the judge to make sure.
So, my dad waited to hear from his attorney. I think it was September 27th when he recieved a letter from the courthouse informing him that he had missed his court date, scheduled back on September 5th (I believe) and that there has been a bench warrant in effect since that date. My dad was involved in a minor fender bender on the 17th of September and the police said nothing about a bench warrant then????
A couple questions:
One, why wasn't my aunt charged with visiting a common nuisance or something similar? She lived with him, she should have been guilty of something, right?
Second, can a bench warrant be lifted because of an error on the public defender's part?
Third, what can my dad do to rectify this horrible situation?
Fourth, if my uncle and his neighbor are both out of jail now, why is it that my parents are still being charged with this? The neighbor was acquited, and my uncle took a plea bargain. Does that somehow inadvertantly convict my parents?
Please help. I don't want my parents to go to jail.